Carrot Cupcakes

Well, I don’t know what the weather’s like in your neighborhood, but we’ve been seeing some snow flurries around here today. We rarely get snow here anyway, and so any time we get it in the springtime, it’s very unusual. And to top it off, this week is spring break for most of the kids and not to mention we’ve got Easter coming up. Needless to say, it doesn’t feel like either! But today we’re going to try to get in to the spring and Easter spirit with a sweet treat! Carrot cake is a great dessert for this time of year. And what could be better than carrot cake? Carrot Cupcakes, of course!

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line cupcake pans with 24 paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt; whisk together and set aside.

In a food processor fitted with a shredding disk, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups). Add the carrots to the bowl with the dry ingredients and set aside. Rinse out the bowl of the food processor and fit with the metal blade. Process the sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil in a steady stream through the feed tube. Continue to process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 more seconds. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.

Scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners, so that each is about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan at least 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

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